What: Publicis Media's Mediavest | Spark media agency is rebranding globally to Spark Foundry. Separately, the former Publicis agencies MV42 and Tapestry have been shut down and their personnel, still with predominantly multicultural planning and buying functions, has been integrated into other Publicis Media agencies.Why it matters: Spark Foundry’s main markets are the US, UK, the Middle East, Poland and Australia and clients include BEL Groupe (Global), MTV, KFC, Mattel, H&R Block (USA), Expedia (SEA), EuroLoan (Poland), Virgin Mobile (MENA), OnePlus (UK) and Diageo (Australia).

Mediavest | Spark, a full-service media agency under Publicis Media, announced that it is rebranding as Spark Foundry. According to Publicis, this move underscores the company’s ongoing commitment to evolution, and reflects the agency’s offerings that extend well beyond the parameters of media and investment to include analytics, technology and innovation, insights, content, commerce and more.

Since coming together as Mediavest | Spark in March 2016, the agency, guided by this vision, has welcomed numerous new clients including BEL Groupe (Global), MTV, KFC, Mattel, H&R Block (USA), Expedia (SEA), EuroLoan (Poland), Virgin Mobile (MENA), OnePlus (UK) and Diageo (Australia). It also recently lost Sprint.

Spark Foundry aims to aggressively roll out its winning proposition to its 3,500 employees across the world, while amplifying its best-in-class capabilities for clients.

“Spark Foundry’s unique vision brings a palpable energy that is proven to drive results for our clients,” said Publicis Media CEO Steve King. “I am confident that Spark Foundry will build on this momentum and continue to deliver exceptional results for our clients as we unlock new and exciting opportunities together in markets across the world.”

Multicultural Agencies Shut Down

Another recent decision taken by Publicis Media is to absorb MV42 and Tapestry, agencies that before were focused exclusively on U.S. multicultural and Hispanic business into their general market agencies. (Publicis has four global agency brands: Mediavest-Spark (Now Spark Foundry), Starcom, Zenith and Blue 449 (the former Optimedia). Some personnel has been let go and others manage multicultural business including Stephen Paez, who oversees all multicultural business at Spark Foundry and Sonia Rocha-Villalba, SVP at Blue 449. Both Paez and Sonia Rocha Villabla report to Lisa Torres, president Multicultural Publicis Media.

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